Published reviews of the 2014 Camaro Z/28 are still a little ways away, but Chevrolet’s new track monster will surely be a performer. The new Camaro also will carry a monster price tag of $75,000. There has been a long standing feud between the Camaro folks in Detroit and the Mustang folks in Dearborn over which muscle car is best. We took the opportunity to compare the 2015 Mustang GT and the 2014 Camaro 2SS and believe that, on paper at least, its a draw. The previous generation Mustang Shelby GT500 was designed to take on the Camaro ZL1, but with the new Z/28 upping the game, will the new Shelby Mustang rise up to compete? We believe it might.
READ: 2015 Mustang GT vs. 2014 Camaro SS: Round One
The $75,000 Camaro Z/28 is expected to be an excellent track performer.
There are a few things that we do know about the future high-powered Mustang from Ford. We know that it will carry the Shelby nameplate, thanks to an exclusive leak to Motor Review last year. We also believe that whatever this version of the Shelby will be, it will carry a forced-induction engine. We know this because of spy shots of a 2015 Mustang with a giant air intake on the hood. This conflicts with reports that the Shelby GT350, which is what was originally believed to be the next Shelby, would be an all-engine affair. This opens the door for a possibility of two different Shelby variants, because we keep hearing about an engine, codenamed “Voodoo,” that is an EcoBoost engine to spice up the next Mustang. Ford is EcoBoost crazy at this point, so we do believe it is completely possible for a turbo V8 to appear in a Shelby GT500 variant of the 2015 Mustang. We have heard small inklings of that being a possibility until further development is completed.
I’ve seen the test numbers. The new #Chevy #Camaro Z/28 is going to make your head explode.
— Angus MacKenzie (@Angus_MacK) February 14, 2014
With a supercharger, the 2014 Shelby GT500 makes 662hp. That is a lot of power being sent to the rear wheels. With better brakes, and the new independent rear suspension, the new Shelby should be much more capable on the track. A turbo version of that engine would be able to make at least that much horsepower. That makes it more powerful than the Camaro Z/28 or Camaro ZL1.
2015 Mustang Shelby spy shots courtesy of Autoblog and KGP Photography.
“But an all motor Shelby would compete better with the all-motor Camaro,” I hear you say. You may be right, but Ford has prided itself on EcoBoost and fuel economy. The 2014 Shelby GT500 avoids the Gas Guzzler Tax that the ZL1 Camaro falls victim to. We do not expect the newest high-powered Mustang to break that trend. We do expect Ford to do everything possible to get the most fuel economy out of all of their Mustangs and score better than the Camaro.
The 2015 Mustang will feature an independent rear suspension.
The biggest news about the new Mustang is the independent rear suspension. Regardless of how much power it makes, the newest performance Mustang will have to be able to keep up with the best handling Camaro. That will surely be the Z/28. If the Shelby cannot compete with the Z/28 the discussion will always be how much better the Camaro is because the Z/28 is better around a track. We do not expect Ford to intentionally allow that to happen.
READ: 2015 Mustang Information Landing Page
This is all conjecture at this point, but Ford typically has SVT announcements at the New York Auto Show. That is where we are expecting the wraps to be taken off the newest 2015 Mustang variant.